Early this week, I coaxed my friend Margaret Prim to take a short road trip with me in hopes of sparking some holiday spirit.
Our destination was Newsom’s Old Mill Store — a time capsule to a simpler, salt-cured era in downtown Princeton — where I could check off two boxes. First, I wanted a quality country ham. Second, I needed a whiff of nostalgia.
Margaret was up for both. And as soon as she heard that I was half-way through two surgeries to take care of cataracts in my eyes, she also volunteered to drive.
Newsom’s never disappoints. It is home to what I consider the Cadillac of country hams, and I found a 15-pounder that I’m saving for Christmas. My family will enjoy an economy country ham from a local grocery store for Thanksgiving.
Margaret and I loaded up with several other treasures — jellies, sorghum, prosciutto, creamed pull candy — and even a few packs of candy cigarettes. Speaking of a whiff of the past. Remember those from the 1970s?
The hams are always the star attraction at Newsom’s. But I also appreciated listening to an employee on the phone trying to verify orders with customers too distant to drop by and collect their ham in person like I did. Soon, hams bound for many addresses around the United States will fill UPS trucks idling in front of the store.
Before Margaret and I headed out the door to search for our lunch, I heard the Newsom’s employee on the phone with another long-distance request.
“OK, sweetheart. We’ve got you down. We’ll take care of you … I know it needs to be there by Thanksgiving. Yes ma’am.”
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If you’ve never cooked a country ham, here’s a story we ran a couple of years ago that explains the process. Let me know if you are a country ham newbie and decide to give it try.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
